The Art of Doing the Laundry
by fiesa
Summary: Even shinobi are stuck with doing daily chores once in a while... Six drabbles with different characters doing different things. Complete.
1. UchihaStyle: Minimalism

_A/N I have to say I´m not greatly into Art. I like it, but I don´t know a lot about it. So if I messed up badly because something absolutely doesn´t fit, I apologize... I chose the titles by what sounded characteristic for the characters._

_Summary: A short collection of drabbles, each containing different characters from Hidden Leaf.  
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_Disclaimer: I own more than 250 books. I don´t own Naruto, sadly. _

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**The arts of doing the laundry**

**Part 1 – Uchiha Style: Minimalism**

"**Minimalism: **Movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features." _(wikipedia)_

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"AHRG!"

_Plish. Plosh. Plash._

The sounds coming from the great mansion sounded deadly dangerous to Kakashi´s ears. The experienced jounin stopped in his track on his way down the wide alley and listened carefully. There it was again:

_Plish. Plash._

"DAMMIT!"

Raising one eyebrow delicately, he made his way down the rest of the road until he reached the main gates to the Uchiha mansion. There hadn´t been anyone living in it for years now, and it looked accordingly: dark, gloomy and somehow… lost. He wondered why Sasuke suddenly had decided to move back into his childhood home. Maybe he wanted to live outside of the main village. Coincidentally, the villagers were as happy as Sasuke probably was to have the last one of the Uchiha Clan live outside their sight. But it wasn´t as if Sasuke ever had cared for what other people thought, so he probably just had decided to tackle the revival of the old house with the energy he couldn´t spend elsewhere, seeing as he still was on probation. Like the last two years since Naruto finally managed to bring him back to Konoha.

Entering the front yard, Kakashi immediately made out the source of the alien sounds: Sasuke was kneeling in front of the water basin, a huge, wet, soapy _something_ in front of him, and colorful streams of curses flowing through his clenched teeth.

"Yo, Sasuke", Kakashi greeted his student and settled down on the low wall beside him.

"How´s it going?"

Sasuke didn´t deign himself to answer. "This bloody thing won´t get clean", he muttered under his breath and continued scrubbing with a sponge. "And every time I – Ahrg!"

Bemused, Kakashi watched as Sasuke´s hand slipped into the basin, sending the water splashing over and drenching him with cold water and soap.

"You think you should start cleaning up the house by washing the curtains?", he asked and chuckled at the cold stare the other one gave him.

"I already cleaned up", he hinted dangerously quiet. "The house is perfectly habitable if you don´t need luxury. It´s not your business what I do in my generously granted free-time. And I like it the way it is. It´s just that these…"

He gave the curtains a disgusted shake and in consequence spilled water over himself again.

"These _things_ won´t get clean!"

Kakashi shook his head and watched in silence for a few minutes. "You could just buy new ones", he finally offered. It was so like Sasuke to revert the same energy and determination to cleaning up the house as he gave to learn a new jutsu or finish a mission. The boy - although he was nothing like a boy any more - was way too serious in anything he did.

"Like hell I´m going to do that", Sasuke muttered darkly. "Being spotted in town, buying _curtains_? I´ll never be able to show my face again in public. You know, my first only pleasure right now is that nobody sees what I´m doing" – he threw his teacher a threatening look – "And if you ever tell anyone, I´ll kill you."

"Naruto would kill for seeing you like this."

"Yeah." Sasuke sighted. "And my second pleasure is knowing he isn´t any better at this than I am."

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_I apologize if Sasuke seems... A bit OOC. But I figured he was such a serious and determined person - if he had nothing to do, he´d revert every ounce of skill to cleaning up as perfectly as he would finish a mission. He might not enjoy it but see it as his duty and as some kind of training._

_So... Tell me what you thought^^ I´d be glad to hear anything. Reviews are love, after all^^_

_Coming next: Part 2 - Sannin Style: Romanticism  
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	2. SanninStyle: Romanticism

**The arts of doing the laundry**

**Part 2 – Sannin Style: Romanticism**

"**Romanticism:** A complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution. (…)

The movement validated strong emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as trepidation, (…) terror and awe—especially that which is experienced in confronting the sublimity of untamed nature. (…)" _(wikipedia)_

**~***~**

"Izumo! Kotetsu!"

The voice ringing out from the Hokage´s office managed to carry many emotions at once, of which the most important – at least to the two guards in front of the door – definitely was the large amount of anger in it. The two shinobi in their matching grey uniforms threw each other a mortified look.

"What did you do this time?"

"I didn´t do anything! What did you do?"

"I…"

"IZUMO! KOTETSU!"

They didn´t dare to disobey any longer. Almost stumbling over their own feet – a quite disgraceful thing for two experienced shinobi to do – they entered the large office. The Fifth Hokage stood at her desk, her hands flat on it, staring at them over the vast expanse of the room between them.

"What have you two been doing to my laundry?", Tsunade-Sama demanded to know and the two guards stood dumbfounded.

"What…"

"I ASKED WHAT YOU TWO DID TO MY LAUNDRY!", the blonde woman shouted at them. When the guards didn´t answer but continued to stare at each other, she sat back down heavily. Her blue eyes were as cold as ice.

"My laundry", she repeated calmly. "Last week, I asked you to take away the basket in front of my house and to bring it to the drycleaner´s. Now I`m asking you: What did you do to it?"

Kotetsu suddenly had a revelation. "_That_ laundry! I remember. Well, we took it as you had asked us to and brought it to the drycleaner´s."

"And?" Hokage-Sama clearly wasn´t finished yet.

"They told us to come back on Tuesday…"

"Which was yesterday", Izumo finally realized. The two guards stared at each other.

"From your stupid expression I can see you totally forgot", Hokage-Sama said sarcastically and tapped her fingers on the polished wood of her desk. "So you weren´t the ones who brought it back and put it in front of my door, right? And you _didn´t steal my underwear, did you?_"

They shook their head in unison.

Tsunade-Sama stared at them for another few seconds as if to prove the truth of their words. But she knew they weren´t lying to her. Which meant…

"Fine. You can leave."

Clearly relieved, they took up their guard duty in front of her office once again.

Tsunade closed her eyes and counted until fifty. Then she opened her mouth.

"JIRAIYA! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

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_A/N I love Tsunade and her relationship with Jiraiya^^ _

_What do you think?_

_Coming next: Part 3 - Ino-Shika-Chou-Style: Realism  
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	3. InoShikaChouStyle: Realism

**The arts of doing the laundry**

**Part 3 – Ino-Shika-Chou Style: Realism**

"**Realism: **The depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation." _(wikipedia)_

"No! Shikamaru, not over there – Chouji, help him, quickly! No, don´t let go of _that _one – oh no."

Sorrowfully, Ino regarded the shards of the flower pots Chouji had just been carrying when she had ordered him to help his teammate. Blue and Red ceramics spread all over the floor.

"Shit", the burly shinobi mumbled and his head sank down, very clearly awaiting her angry tirade. She surprised him as much as Shikamaru when she just shrugged.

"Oh well. They were quite old anyway. We never sold many of them – I wonder why Mum even bothered with ordering them."

She dived behind the counter and pulled out a pail and a hand brush.

"Shikamaru, go on – all the other pots into that cupboard over there, and the _clerodendrum _on the left side of the window. There – that´s great. See, guys? We´re almost done."

A short look told her they were far from being finished. But they had been working for hours now and she was sure they deserved some kind of praise, at least… Partly, because they really helped a lot, and partly, because she still was unsure why Shikamaru had volunteered in the first place. "Let´s take a short break, anyway. I´ll get some tea and sandwiches."

"You must have been out of your mind", Chouji told his best friend as soon as they were alone in the florist´s shop Ino´s parents ran. "She didn´t even ask for help – just told us she wouldn´t be able to train on Friday because they were cleaning up – and you offer to _help_? What happened to your brilliant brain?"

As usual, Shikamaru merely shrugged.

He wasn´t quite sure what had gotten into him that particular day – probably it really was the fact the sun had dried up his brain these last months in Suna. He hadn´t seen neither Ino nor Chouji for three entire months and he wasn´t sure whether he had missed them or not – well, at least whether he had missed _Ino_, because Chouji was his best friend and _of course_ he had missed him. While Ino – Ino was a different matter. He wondered what had happened to her. It had only been three months, hadn´t it? But still, she seemed different. She had cut her hair – it fell to her shoulders, no more – and even though she still talked a lot, she seemed quiet. She hadn´t even jelled at Chouji for shattering the pottery.

"Suna hasn´t only fried your brain, it has also burned out your ability of speech", Chouji grumbled half-heartedly. "Hey – I`m glad you´re back."

"Me too."

Ino returned with a large tray, three cups, a tea pot, and a probably a thousand sandwiches balancing on it. She threw a glance around and shrugged, then settled the tray onto an upturned flower pot next to Chouji. Then she got one for herself.

"Wow", Chouji said and immediately helped himself. "You never fixed these during the few minutes you were away!"

Ino grinned. "As a matter of fact, I haven´t. Mum sends them as a thanks. She says we´ve never been so quick with the inventory before."

Shikamaru eyed a sandwich and tasted it. Ino´s mother always had known how to prepare a good meal, he pondered.

After half an hour, the plate was empty and Chouji leaned back contentedly, patting his stomach. "Nap-time!"

Ino´s temper flared.

"Of course not", she snapped. "Do you know how much we still have to do?"

Weirdly, Shikamaru chuckled quietly at her outburst.

Chouji stared at his reaction. Ino gaped at his. Then they all started laughing. And returned to the inventory of the Yamanaka-flower shop concertedly. Sometimes, life was exactly the way it was supposed to be: simple and clear.

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_A/N I just had to make Ino grow up. She´s so horribly without character and annoying in the first part - I like her more later on^^ So what do you think?_

_Coming next: Part 4 - Hyuuga Style: Renaissance_


	4. HyuugaStyle: Romanticism

**The art of doing the laundry**

**Part 4 – Hyuuga Style: Renaissance**

**Renaissance:** "French for "rebirth"; Italian: _Rinascimento_, from _ri-_ "again" and _nascere_ "be born" - a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. (…)  
As a cultural movement, it encompassed a resurgence of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform. Traditionally, this intellectual transformation has resulted in the Renaissance being viewed as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern era." _(wikipedia)_

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"What do you think you´re doing?", a stern voice demanded from the outside of Hinata´s quarters. She knew exactly well whose voice it was.

"Neji-niisan", she greeted her cousin and jumped down elegantly from the low bench she had been perched on.

"A good day to you. How are you?"

She almost smiled when she saw his expression tighten. He didn´t like small talk, she was very aware of the fact.

"Fine. Tell me you´re not doing what I think you are."

"Well, seeing as I might possess the ability of our Clan to see through walls, it might be understandable that I´m not graced with the gift of mind-reading. Therefore, I can´t tell you what you think I´m doing, but I can tell you I´m cleaning the windows."

Neji´s forehead creased dangerously deep.

"Why are you cleaning the windows?"

"Because spring is coming, and I like when the sun is able to actually be seen behind the windows. And then I have finished the laundry last week and felt like I could start with something else."

"You did the _laundry?" _

From his voice, she could tell he was deeply irritated by her doings. Not only by her doings, but by her acting as well. They hadn´t seen each other often during those last years... She shrugged, somewhat smugly. It felt good to be able to surprise her cousin now and then. He always acted as if he had seen everything – well, there was a lot she could teach him that he hadn´t seen before.

"Of course. Why not?" She stopped herself from adding a "Have you never done it before?" because she knew he, in fact, never _had_ done the laundry before.

Because there was no reason for any member of the Hyuuga Clan – be it the main clan or the branch – to actually do such trivial chores like _laundry._ Or even, god forbid, _clean the windows – _because what else were servants for if not for such chores? She remembered the day when she had started to do her laundry by herself. She had to fight with her personal maid, with the head of all maids and with the head of the house servants until they finally accepted her new eccentricity – maybe they hadn´t believed she would continue doing it after she had tried it once. But she loved it. She had started to clean up her own quarters, as well, and finally had taken to even cleaning the windows – because if she couldn´t tell how servants worked, how could she ever command them? She knew her father knew of her doings – he always knew what happened in his household – and he had mentioned it once or twice. Every time, she had politely replied it was her own decision and her own life which was being debated and refused to let him get involved. It had been hard, she had been shaking all over, terribly afraid he might start to yell at her. But he didn´t. He just looked at her closely and when she refused to back away, even while being pale and terrified, he let the subject drop. Hinata didn´t feel proud of herself at this sign of victory. Everyone told her she had changed – and she knew it as well – but the truth was: she hadn´t changed much. She still was the same little girl, afraid and alone and desperately trying to please her parents. But she had been disappointed so many times she had started not to care for what other people – mainly her family – said. And this had given her the courage to speak up more often. Now, her change was even visible in the way she walked. She wasn´t even proud of herself – sometimes, she felt rather sad. But she wouldn´t say the change had been a bad thing, either.

"Is it one of your attempts of rebellion once again?", Neji asked, slightly annoyed he couldn´t make her waver. Hinata actually laughed quietly.

"Of course not. It´s like training. You should try it, too. You learn discipline and determination as well as responsibility."

"I don´t need to train my discipline and responsibility." He sounded indignant.

"Of course not." She smiled. "But apparently, I have to. So if you would excuse me now, I want to finish the windows before I leave."

"Where are you going?"

"I promised Kiba to help him with the dogs today. Shino will be there, too. It´s rare for the three of us to be in Konoha at the same time lately, so we´ll go out for dinner, I guess."

She left him staring at her – _Inuzuka and Aburame? She still was so close to her old teammates? He rarely saw Tenten and Lee, even if they were living in the same village - _returned to the low bench and continued in her work. The hard material of the paper she was using to dry the wet glass was reassuring. She smiled at her reflection. She had been trained in being a shinobi all her life. It was ironic that she´d learn to be a true shinobi by doing simple chores such as laundry and cleaning up.

Neji watched her for another few minutes and wondered how the hell his shy little cousin had become such an intelligent and interesting woman.

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_A/N I guess I like this part a lot... I hopefully was able to show that Hinata hasn´t made the jump from being a overly shy girl to a self-assured young woman in one simple step. She´s still shy, and she´s still afraid, but she has learned to speak her mind, if politely, and can hold her own ground... At least, that´s what I wanted to show._

_What do you think?_

_Coming next: Part 5 - Uzumaki Style: Naive Art_


	5. UzumakiStyle: Naive Art

**The art of doing the laundry**

**Part 5(6) – Uzumaki Style: Naïve Art**

"**Naïve art:** Often characterized by a childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique. While many naïve artists appear, from their works, to have little or no formal art training, this is often not true." _(wikipedia)_

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Sasuke would have been surprised if he could have seen his teammate now.

Because, contrary to his assumptions, Naruto very well knew how to do his laundry, and he definitely would have beat Sasuke with it.

Living alone by himself for as long as he could remember, naturally, he had been forced to learn how to take care of himself, and this included cooking (although he preferred eating out with Iruka-Sensei or just warming up something), cleaning up (except there wasn´t much to keep clean in his apartment besides a table, a chair, a chest of drawers and his bed, a tiny bathroom and equally small kitchen with almost nothing inside) and, of course, doing the laundry.

The latter probably was what he was best as. There was a simple reason for it: as a child, he had possessed exactly two pairs of trousers, four shirts and one jacket. Of course, he could go over wearing those particular items of clothing again and again, but he realized he had to wash them from time to time. With adults glaring at him angrily and not knowing why he was the one to collect their added-up anger, he had tried to make himself look as clean and tidy as possible - which was difficult sometimes, because his nature tended to go astray and he´d end up dirty and smeared, sometimes from his own doings, sometimes not. When people hadn´t stopped glaring, he had started not to care any longer, but the habit stayed with him. He chuckled fondly as he remembered the orange piece of clothing. He had grown out of it years ago.

Rinsing the uniform shirt he was currently washing expertly under the cold, running water and then wringing it, he wondered what Sasuke was doing. Probably he was rummaging through the mansion, searching for traces of his childhood and afraid he might find them. He was glad his friend was back in Konoha. It had taken him some years to track him down – five, actually, but then he had found him and brought him back. The glances all the people gave him didn´t bother him anymore, he was used to them, but he wondered if Sasuke cared. It would explain why he had moved back into the Uchiha mansion. But then, Sasuke never gave a reason for his actions, and Naruto was past the point of demanding reasons.

"Naruto!"

Sakura´s voice rang out from the window of his apartment and he looked up to see his teammate wave down at him. "There you are!"

He grinned at her.

"Hey, Sakura. On your way visiting Sasuke?"

She smiled back. Her long, pink hair fell into her eyes as a gust of wind picked up some strands.

"Exactly. I thought I´d come by and ask you, as well. We´re all three in town right now, so we could spend the evening together…"

Her voice trailed away. Naruto quickly pulled the last items out of the water and wrung them out, then throwing them into the basket beside him. She couldn´t fool him – she was eager to see Sasuke, but she was afraid, as well. Sasuke had changed – they all had changed, to say the truth, but Sasuke was the one who had changed most. Sometimes Naruto wondered whether he had brought home some other person. This wasn´t his rival, his teammate who would mock and grin and cross his arms self-confidently. This Sasuke was introverted and quiet and distant, even more so than he had ever been. This Sasuke wouldn´t take up his challenges and wouldn´t let his temper flare if something was wrong. No, he was different from what he had been, but also – more human. Maybe that was the reason why Sakura was afraid…

But despite the strangeness, they had never been as close as they were now, the three of them. They just had to find a way to define their relationship.

Naruto dried his hands and smiled up at his friend and teammate.

"I´ll be upstairs in a minute and ready to leave in two."

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_A/N Not much to say about this one... I love Naruto! *sigh*_

_What do you think?_

_Coming next: Epilogue - Konoha: Contemporary Art_


	6. KonohaStyle: Contemporary Art

**The art of doing the laundry**

_A/N _

_Thanks, again, for response, review and opinion! I appreciate them and am incredibly happy that there are some people who enjoyed reading this. I know this is not an ending, but then, I set this story up as a six-chapter-story and this is the sixth. My intention was to give a short view on the everyday life in Hidden Leaf, not do do a detailed study. I apologize if I´m not entirely in canon (I haven´t followed naruto recently) and if I missed grammar and other mistakes even if I read over the chapters like five times... And for the fact that not every character had his appearance. I love them all but I can´t write about all of them..._

_So, here we go.  
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**Part 6 – Epilogue: Konoha - Contemporary Art**

"**Contemporary art** can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time." _(wikipedia)_

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At the end of the day, various Konoha nin were able to lean back feeling accomplished.

The mansion of the Uchiha Clan sported spotless curtains. They were red now, though, not white any more. Bearing another color than black and white, suddenly, the old house seemed a little bit more inviting. Also, the voices coming from the living room filled the empty halls until the ghosts of a dead Clan seemed to draw back and fade - at least a little bit.

Tsunade-sama left the office early and enjoyed a stroll through a few sake bars, faithful Shizune on her heels. Jiraiya sported a _very_ black eye and sat on the Hokage´s Cliff, sulking all by himself, until he decided to go and have a look at the woman´s baths for the sake of his mood. Where he was caught by Anko and suffered another black eye.

The Yamanaka flower shop finished its inventory three hours before sunset and closed for the day. Ino invited Shikamaru and Chouji for a barbeque, something neither of them was to refuse. The highlight of their evening was Chouji´s comment which made Ino blush beet-red and Shikamaru turn away, murmuring "Troublesome". Nobody was there to listen, so nobody got to know what made them do so.

Hinata Hyuuga spent her evening in the gardens surrounding the Hyuuga mansion, like she did often. Suddenly, a dark shape materialized in the darkness, but she didn´t flinch. "Neji-onisan", she greeted him. Without a word, he sat down next to her. Nobody listened to their conversation, either, though they probably just sat in silence.

"Whaddayadoin here?", Asuma asked Kakashi in a slightly annoyed voice. Next to him, Kurenai grinned at the silver-haired shinobi. "Just checkin´", Kakashi replied and dropped off the tree he had been sitting on. While the couple resumed its way, Kakashi walked back to his apartment but then decided to check onto his former students, as well.

"A beautiful night", Sakura sighed and looked into the night sky. Sasuke followed her look and shrugged.

"Stars and clouds."

"Don´t be stupid", Sakura reprimanded him. "It´s a lot more than just that. Isn´t it, Naruto?"

There was no answer.

"Naruto?"

Sasuke snorted. "Look at that idiot, falling asleep on _my _couch! What does he think I´m going to do now? Carry him back home?"

Sakura smiled, but didn´t answer. She knew Sasuke knew the answer to his own question very well, too.

A shooting star flashed.

_God cannot fulfill wishes._

Nevertheless, she closed her eyes and wished upon the star.

_Another perfect day._

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_A/N The last quote - "God cannot fulfill wishes" - belongs to Arina Tanemura (Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne) and reads fully: "God cannot fulfill wishes. He can only do three things: Create life, watch life, and move the atmosphere... That´s why wishes upon a star don´t come true. You would have to repeat them three times before the shooting star extinguishes." It´s translated from German freely, so I might not have gotten it perfect. Feel free to correct me._

_Thanks for reading all the way through!_


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